Prohibited in the 5th Degree Review

Our Prohibited in the 5th Degree review takes a look at the multi-function vaporizer from the company responsible for the Pro Series from V2. Is it worth the $200 price-tag? Does it perform as well as expected? We have a look at what it can do.

Cons

A little expensive at $199.99, but in line with many competing devices

Battery life is less than on other vaporizers

Basically just the Pro Series 7 re-branded

Bottom Line

In the 5th Degree is a solid portable vaporizer, and it performs great with both concentrates and dry herb. The price of $199.99 might make it a difficult decision, but if you want something incredibly easy-to-use that performs like a champ, it’s a fantastic option well worth considering.

Prohibited in the 5th Degree Review

Vaping marijuana has a lot of the same benefits as vaping nicotine. By removing all of the harmful chemicals produced when you combust plant matter, you get to enjoy the same substance with a drastic reduction in the risks. For marijuana, different cannabinoids – because there’s more than just THC in weed – vaporize at different temperatures, so by setting a specific temperature you can really tailor your experience. This has produced a lot of competition to put out the best marijuana vaporizer, and in the 5th Degree from Prohibited is one of the latest contenders to enter the fray.

The device boasts more flexibility than most marijuana vaporizers on the market, working with both dry herb and concentrates, making it one of the only options for vapers looking for something to use with both ground marijuana and waxes or oils. But the question is: does it do the job well enough? We’ve put the device to the test for our Prohibited in the 5th Degree review to see how it stacks up against the competition.

What You Get

In the 5th Degree comes in cool box, with a Mexican-style skull design occupying one side and a window showing your device on the opposite edge. The box comes apart in two sections. The right hand side has the device – which comes with the dry herb cartridge attached – and the left hand side has all of the accessories you get with the device. It comes with an instruction manual, a USB charging cable, a wall adapter, a spare cartridge for concentrates and some general extras: a few tools for applying your material and a double-ended pick for moving it around, a brush for cleaning and a few spare metal discs which protect the interior of the chamber. Overall it’s a really nice set of gear included with the kit as standard, more than enough to get you started.

Prohibited in the 5th Degree Review – The Design

Appearance

In the 5th Degree has a very familiar-looking design, in that it’s pretty much identical to the V2 Pro Series 7. There is a good reason for this – it’s actually a re-branded and more cannabis-focused version of the exact same product, made by VMR products, who were behind V2’s offerings.

It has an oval-shaped cross section but is tall and slender in shape, with a fire button about half way up with three LED lights below it, and a trapezoid-shaped mouthpiece topping the whole thing off. My version is teal, but you can also pick it up in black, white and purple. The “Prohibited” logo is printed vertically on the front of the device, with “in the 5th Degree” written on the back side along the bottom. Overall, the appearance is pretty solid but this shouldn’t be much of a surprise because it’s already a tried-and-tested look.

Structure and Layout

In the 5th Degree has the same structure as the Pro Series 7 too. The bulk of the device is the battery section, but there is a hollow top with space to insert the cartridges you get with the device. There’s a little half-circle cut out on one side so you can line your cartridges up easily. This makes the device really easy to use – there’s no real way to get it wrong! Just choose the appropriate cartridge based on the icon on it, a leaf for dry herb and a honeycomb for concentrates, drop it in and you’re good to go. The magnetic charging point is found on the metallic underside of the device.

The Cartridges – Dry Herb

Like the Pro Series from V2, in the 5th Degree features changeable cartridges that allow you to vape different materials using the same device. The cartridges drop into the top section of the device and are connected magnetically. Like the Pro Series from V2, in the 5th Degree recognizes which cartridge you’ve inserted automatically (through a pattern on the connection points) and adjusts it’s behavior accordingly.

The cartridge for dry herb is quite straightforward, with a twist-off mouthpiece and a small chamber inside, with a metallic interior and a ring of ceramic towards the top to indicate the maximum fill level. It works through conduction heating, which isn’t on the level of convection performance-wise, but still generally works well and is a lot more affordable. On the underside of the mouthpiece, there’s a metallic plate with a selection of small holes to allow vapor to pass through without letting any ground material get sucked up into your mouth. There’s another similar bit of metal at the bottom of the chamber, but this is loose and easy to replace when you can’t clean it anymore.

The Cartridges – Concentrates

The concentrates chamber works in the same basic way as the dry herb cartridge, but the interior is quite different. It has dual titanium coils on the inside, which are wrapped around quartz rods that serve as a wick for the thicker material but don’t have any impact on the taste of your concentrate. For this cartridge, the whole interior section is ceramic, to offer better heat protection in use. Overall, this cartridge is really well put together, and even thought the dry herb cartridge is good, you really appreciate the attention to detail that went into this one in particular.

Button and LED Indicators

The user interface of the device is completely controlled with the single button and the three curved LED lights below it. This makes it really easy to use – just press the main button three times to switch it on, and press and hold it to start the heating process. The bottom of the device also has an LED light, which blinks white when you switch the device on and red when you switch it off.

Pressing the button twice in quick succession gives you the option of choosing your temperature setting, and the LEDs below the button light up – one lit, then two lit, then all three and then it cycles back around to one – and you press again to select your option.

When you press and hold to start the heating process, the LED at the bottom turns red while it’s heating and then green when you’re ready to vape.

Overall, the user interface is really straightforward but it works fantastically – everything is easy-to-use and you get additional feedback at pretty much every stage.

The Charging Point

The charging point on Prohibited’s in the 5th Degree is a single circular magnetic connection point with a gold contact. This is really well-designed, because all you have to do to charge it is bring the circular end of the charger near to this point and it will snap itself into place.

Overall

In the 5th Degree has an excellent design, overall. It’s simple and to-the-point but really user-friendly, and it looks pretty cool too.

Prohibited in the 5th Degree Review – The Features

Temperature Settings for Dry Herb

In the 5th Degree features three different temperature settings so you have control over the sort of vaping experience you get when you use the device. The lowest setting is 390° Fahrenheit / 200° Celsius, the middle setting is 415° Fahrenheit / 210° Celsius and the highest is 440° Fahrenheit / 225° Celsius. These are shown by one light, two lights and three lights when you press the fire button twice, and you hit the button again when it’s on the setting you want.

Different temperature settings are absolutely essential for a dry herb vaporizer, so this is a great feature. There are other devices that offer more options when it comes to temperature, but generally this is more than enough to suit most users.

Voltage Settings for Concentrates

As a counterpart to the temperature settings when you’re vaping with the dry herb cartridge, there are three voltage settings to choose from when you’re vaping with the concentrates cartridge. The settings are 3.7 V, 4.2 V and 4.7 V for one, two and three lights, respectively. Again, this is a really useful feature for getting the sort of vaping experience you want out of the device.

Additional Cartridges

Along with the included dry herb and concentrates cartridges, you can pick up additional cartridges to support other types of vaping. You can pick up a dabber attachment too, as well as a bubbler e-rig attachment. These are a little more complex-looking, but they slot into the top of the device just like the included cartridges, although both also come with attachments for the base.

Battery Life and Charging

In the Fifth Degree comes with an in-built 1800 mAh battery, which is a great offering that will support your vaping for days without needing to charge, depending on your level of use. The battery is a little smaller than the ones you’ll find on devices like the Pax 3 and the DaVinci IQ, but as long as you’re not vaping constantly you won’t find this to be much of an issue.

It charges pretty quickly via USB as well, and the best thing is that it works in “passthrough” so you can vape while it charges. This means that even if your battery is completely flat, after a brief 10 minutes or so of charging (to get it back into a working state) you can use it for a session as it continues charging, although this does increase charging time.

Prohibited in the 5th Degree Review – In Use

Performance: Dry Herb Cartridge

The dry herb cartridge included with in the 5th Degree works really well. It reaches vaping temperature in less than 30 seconds, which is impressively quick for such a compact device, and then you can start vaping for a session. It switches off automatically after five minutes, but if you still have material to vape you can just hold the fire button again and carry on for another little session.

The flavor is really good, and nothing in the chamber has an influence on the taste of your weed, so it’s a really enjoyable device to vape with. Taking longer, gentler draws is the best approach, which might take a little while to get used to if you’re new to vaping marijuana, but is pretty much the case with any portable vaporizer. You always get a little bit of vapor but as with the majority of devices, clouds are not the goal here.

Vaping at the medium or high setting works suits my preferences more, but all of the settings work well, and they’re spaced out enough to make sure there’s something for everyone.

Performance: Concentrates Cartridge

The dual titanium coils and quartz wicks in the concentrates cartridge work excellently. Because it sends power to the coils in a similar way to an e-cigarette, it responds right away and the three settings give you control over how much of a hit you get with each puff. Generally this cartridge works really well, with the flavor of your concentrate coming through well and a satisfying puff of vapor with every draw. The included tool for applying your concentrate does the job as well, even though it’s fairly basic compared to the ones you get with other concentrate vaporizers.

Ease of Use

The one-button operation of in the 5th Degree makes it really easy to get to grips with. The mode changes automatically when you insert a cartridge, so all you really have to do is choose a setting, turn the device on or off and start it heating up. Changing cartridges couldn’t be easier – you just pull one out and put the other in – and press the button three times to turn it on or off. Cycle through available settings with two pushes of the button, then confirm with one push, and finally push and hold the button to start heating.

In short, this is really easy to use, and this makes in the 5th Degree a great device for people brand new to cannabis vaping.

Build Quality

Since this device is ultimately an improved, marijuana-focused version of the Pro Series 7 from V2, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the device is solidly-built. They used high-quality materials throughout, and the cartridges and charger fit onto the device perfectly. Overall, there’s nothing at all to complain about here – it’s really well put together.

Editor Rating

Design4/5

Build Quality4/5

Perfomance5/5

Functionality4/5

Overall4.3/5

Is it Worth Picking Up?

The $199.99 price-tag on in the 5th Degree might give you pause for thought, but the device can not only handle both concentrates and dry herb, it does both really well. The battery life is good, the taste is hard to fault and it’s a really easy device to get used to using. Other devices do come with attachments for concentrates, but the solution on something like the Pax 3 falls short of the dedicated cartridge you get with In the 5th Degree. It isn’t the absolute best vaporizer on the market, but for the quite reasonable price, you get a solid performer and one with more flexibility than the vast majority of options out there.